Chapter Text
A few hours later, Leona found himself standing on a dark stage in a ridiculous outfit. It was white, flowy, and absolutely covered in flowers. The top had some elaborate scarf to add layering as well. He shouldn't be surprised it was made for Vil, it would have suited him. The costume designer said it was a good thing that Leona and Vil were the same hight, but Leona was buffer than Vil, so it felt tight.
A quick glace behind him told him everything about how the rest of the cast felt. Almost all of them looked nervous. They clearly thought this was going to be a disaster and embarrass them all. The only one who didn't look scared was Epel Felmier. He had been rather bold, glaring at Leona since rehearsals. Leona knew he was Vil's protege or something like that. But he was under the impression that Epel hated that. He must have warmed up to Vil. Leona wouldn't know what that was like.
He could hear the chatter from the crowd from behind the curtain. Had anyone told them that Vil wouldn't be performing tonight? Seven he hoped so, this was already humiliating enough. He looked off to the side of the stage where Ruggie was. Trying to memorize this whole play had been a nightmare. His memory was pretty good, but the this play was so large, even he struggled getting it down. So instead they had taken the time to write out all the lines on cue cards that Ruggie would hold up from off stage. Surely that wouldn't be noticeable right?
He heard the sounds of the music starting, prompting the crowd to quite down. He started to brace himself. This play was two and a half hours long, no intermission. He just had to get through it. If he got through this, then maybe Vil would be willing to forgive him.
Slowly the curtains rose and the blinding spotlight hit Leona. The light in his face prevented him from seeing the crowd. But he could almost feel the confusion from where he stood. Great, so no one announced Vil wasn't going to perform.
Well, this is what they're getting now. They better be grateful, because no one will ever see Leona perform again.
Leona was looked in the direction of the crowd, ready to deliver the opening monologue. But he was drawing a blank. He was a little annoyed he knew he read this part about ten times. Well, that's what Ruggie was there for. Without regard for theatrics, he turned his head to the side and started reading off the cue cards.
Ruggie was pretty good at rotating through them. Maybe this would work out. Sure he wasn't giving any life to the performance, but he was getting through it, the play was moving forward that's all that matters right?
As the opening monologue finished, the dancers started moving around the stage. Leona very blatantly moved his head around them to continue reading the cue cards. Leona doesn't even know how long this went on for. Honestly, he was in a flow for this now. He felt much more confident that this would go by quickly.
Eventually, the script called for him to move stage right for the scene of the main characters getting lost in the darkness. It was nice to finally be out of the spotlight for a moment as it moved to focus on the dancers pretending to be lost souls.
He took this opportunity to look out over the crowd. Well at least their reactions were pretty funny. They seemed absolutely baffled. Leona briefly thought of his mother in the crowd. He was going to have to take extra care to avoid her after this. He was going to look to Ruggie again to prepare for his next line, but as he looked back to Ruggie, he saw a very angry omega standing next to him.
Furious didn't even begin to cover it. Vil looked like he was prepared to claw Leona's eyes out the second he left the stage. He clearly hadn't been back to himself for that long, as it looked like he had ran here. He did take the time to put on make up but it was nothing elaborate, his hair was brushed but not styled, and he was wearing a cloak to cover himself. So no time for an elaborate outfit then.
Maybe Leona would have felt concern about Vil's reaction to this. But instead he felt anger. Not towards Vil, but rather to the omega standing next to him.
Azul.
Suddenly, some things started to click into place. He distantly wondered how involved Azul had been with everything going on these past few days. Wasn't he supposed to be gone anyways? When did he get back?
What really pissed Leona off was the shear enjoyment Azul was getting from this. Him and those twins at his side.
Well, he wasn't going to let Azul have the satisfaction and he certainly wasn't going to give Vil a bad performance.
The next time the spotlight was on him, he put everything into it. Clearly shocking and maybe frightening the rest of the cast with the change. The whiplash almost caused them to miss their cues. He still had to look at the cue cards, but he was putting in far more effort now. He tried to push back any embarrassment by reminding himself this was for Vil.
And so he gave it his best effort for the next two hours. He was putting more effort into this than a majority of stuff he did in school.
The next time the spotlight was off him felt like en eternity. But finally, after giving his best crocodile tears, be was being carried away on that moon prop Vil had cared so much about.
He wasted no time looking for Vil's reaction. He couldn't help the pride he felt in that moment, as Vil no longer looked enraged. In fact, it looked like he was trying to suppress a smile. Not even Ashengrotto's smug aura emanating from next to Vil could ruin this for him.
The two made eye contact and Leona felt his heart clench. Maybe it could work between them. He laid back on the prop, letting himself rest after two hours of work. He couldn't even bring himself to care about the overwhelming smell from the flowers.
When the curtains closed he felt relief that this was finally over. He felt himself get lowered back to the ground and unceremoniously rolled off. He was prepared to just leave the stage, but felt a hand grab his arm.
The hand belonged to Epel, who never ceased his glaring.
"No one's allowed to leave until final bows."
"Right." Leona's pretty sure he's only saying that cause he's mad. But he's going to do it, cause if that's a rule Vil made up, then he needs to do it.
So he does. When the time comes for him to take a bow, the reception is pretty muted. But that's fine, he's finally done. For real this time. So he's a little confused when the silence is interrupted but violent applause and cheering.
He doesn't need to look too hard to find out why, as Vil had entered from off stage to stand next to him. He wasn't even in the play and he got the most applause. A little insulting to the other performers, but whatever. Vil holds out a hand, effectively silencing the crowd.
"Thank you all so much for coming tonight. I apologize for not being able to perform for you, but I fell ill this morning." He moves his hands to indicate Leona "Without his intervention there would have been no play at all. So please, one more round of applause for him and all our other wonderful performers."
And just like that, the crowd begins cheering loud enough to shake the whole stage. Leona looks on at them a bit unimpressed but how shallow they seem, when he feels a hand grab his bicep.
"Smile." Vil says through gritted teeth.
And Leona does. Not for the crowd, but because he's happy to hear Vil's nagging once more.
_________________________________________________________________
Leona doesn't get the chance to speak with Vil right away, much to his annoyance. As Vil is immediately swamped by the rest of the cast who are happy to see him safe.
So instead of talking with Vil about a potential future between the two of them, he was starting down Azul.
"I should slice you to pieces for what you did."
"Oh my, whatever could I have done to warrant this?"
"Don't play dumb, I know you planned this."
For a moment it looks like Azul is going to keep up the innocent act. But a chuckle seems to get caught in his throat and he turns his head to let it out.
"You've honestly flattered me. This went well beyond anything I could have planned."
Leona growls and steps closer, "How did you get Ruggie to make that potion?"
"Make the potion? I didn't make him do anything. Ruggie was simply kind enough to share your troubles with us after the meeting."
Leona snaps his attention to Ruggie who has been lingering off to the side. Had Azul and Jade really cornered Ruggie during that short span of time after the meeting?
"You told them?"
"I… yeah… I guess I did."
"Why?"
Ruggie looked like he was thinking real hard about why he did it. But it seemed even he couldn't conjure up an answer, he just seemed confused.
The pieces fell into place pretty clearly in Leona's mind. Azul and Jade were upset about what he had said to Azul after the meeting. Leona distantly recalls Jamil mentioning what Jade's signature spell was. They used 'Shock the Heart' on Ruggie and gave him that potion recipe, hoping it would make the omega chosen by his mother resent him. No doubt humiliating him, the same way he had embarrassed Azul.
Leona turns back to Azul, ready to finish this conversation. But he finds Azul is already on his way out with the twins. He is able to make eye contact with Jade, who seems even more pleased than Azul. Huh, maybe Leona had been giving the bulk of the credit to the wrong person.
For a moment neither of them move. Not wanting to be the first one to break eye contact.
Leona has his pride, so he's willing to stare down Leech until he wins. He now know very intimately how Jade feels about Azul. The second Azul notices he's not following he'll get him and Leona will win this minor fight of superiority.
"Leona." Vil's voice comes from behind.
Leona quickly turns to face Vil. Who looks a bit more at ease, but still carries some tension in his shoulders.
"I think we should speak to each other privately."
Leona felt himself smile, "Yeah, sounds good."
As Vil began leading them somewhere more secluded. Leona spares a passing glance to where Leech was standing, only to find him gone. But honestly Leona can't bring himself to care, he's too busy mentally going over what he wants to say to Vil.
Vil brings them to one of the dressing rooms towards the end of the hall, instead of making himself comfortable he remains standing.
Leona doesn't have a problem with that, as he makes himself comfortable in one of the plush chairs. He immediately sinks into it, using both the arm rests. He sees Vil's face morph from discomfort to annoyance. Ahh, how he'd missed this.
"Must you act so uncouth no matter the situation?"
Leona had a easy smile on his face, "I only do this for you actually."
Vil rolled his eyes, "What about taking the lead in a play, how many people would you do that for?"
Oh, so he wanted to get right to the point. That's fine with Leona.
"Still just you."
"Oh."
Leona waited for Vil to say more, to launch into his ideas about romance a relationships. Then Leona realized. Was Vil acting shy? Today really was a day of firsts for him. His smile got wider and he leaned forward.
"Don't worry Vil, you're not the first person to get nervous around me. I am a prince after all."
Vil let out a scoff, "That's not-! You're infuriating. The only time I'm ever nervous around you is when I think your boarish manner will reflect poorly on me and this school."
"Ha, could've fooled me, you look more nervous than Idia."
"Oh, I doubt that."
"Then why are you hugging yourself?"
"I am not-!" Vil caught himself mid-sentence. Realizing that Leona was right, he was hugging himself. Leona watched as he adjusted into a seemingly more confident pose.
"Stand as confidently as you want, I've already seen you acting shy."
A sign, "Leona, I'm not shy about being alone in a room with you. I'm…embarrassed."
Leona honestly wasn't expecting that.
"Don't see why, not like it was your fault."
"Not only did a miss a production I had been promoting for months, I was clinging to you like a newborn pup."
Huh, Leona wasn't expecting Vil to remember that much of what happened. But going by his embarrassment…Did he remember everything?
"Don't be embarrassed, I liked it."
"Not to mention, my hair-" Vil paused mid rant, "You liked it? Hmm… I never saw you as the type to want an omega all over you."
"Neither did I, until it was you."
It looks like Vil is going to respond, but it seems like Leona's statement caught him so off guard that he needed time to process. Leona opts to not act smug like he normally would. He wants to show Vil that he means it and he can't risk Vil closing himself off.
"The potion you spilled on me," Oh right. "did you do it intentionally?"
"No, it was part of a dumb plan to get me mom off my back. She wanted me to mate with a stranger and I wanted them to leave me alone." He chooses to leave out Ashengrotto's involvement, it would make this too messy.
"And you thought a potion to trap them in omega space would be the right way to go about that?"
"It wasn't supposed to work that way. Was still working on the potion when I ran into you. You'll never guess what the last ingredient I needed was."
Leona watches the realization cross Vil's face before he puts his head in his hands.
"I truly didn't meant to take all of them. I just couldn't perfect the arrangement. I needed it to be flawless."
"No one was gonna notice the flowers with you standing there."
"But it wasn't me."
"Yeah, they definitely weren't paying attention to the flowers during my performance either."
"Oh, I would hardly call that a performance."
"Hey, no need to be like that, I only did it for you."
"Yes, Rook did mention you were doing it to beg for my forgiveness."
"Bowl cut needs to watch his mouth then."
"Don't be too harsh on Rook, he was the only thing stopping me from interrupting the performance to finish myself. According to him, you needed to pay your dues."
"Well don't be shy, tell me what you thought."
"Hah! You certainly are bold. But given that you did make an earnest attempt to make sure my play went on, I may be willing to wash what happened under the bridge."
"I didn't do it to get even."
"Oh please why else-"
Did he really not know?
"I did cause I didn't want you to be upset, you told me this play meant a lot to you. Would be pretty crappy to ignore your happiness if I want to court you."
"You want to…"
"Oh Vil, what was it you said the other day? 'How blind your senses must be'."
Leona waits for Vil's response, but none seems to come. He watches Vil's face for any kind of reaction. Rage, confusion…joy? But Vil's features seem locked in place. So Leona waits, he already put himself out there enough. Now the ball was in Vil's court.
After a moment he rewarded with a response.
"That potion… it merely trapped me in omega space."
"Uhh, yeah, so?"
"So? Leona, that's just how I act when I'm in omega space. Clingy and needy."
"Vil, I already told you I want to court you. No need to up sell yourself."
"You never seemed like the type to like needy omegas."
"Yeah, you're right, nothing wrong with em', but I only like it on you."
Leona watches in satisfaction as Vil's face begins turning a delightful shade of red.
"You'll have to make yourself presentable if we go out in public together."
Oh?
"I expect you to provide me with proper courting gifts, things I would enjoy. Not whatever you've hunted."
Vil walks closer to where Leona is sitting as he makes his demands.
"I expect you to treat me with respect when I'm in omega space, you're not allowed to be snide or cruel.
And further more, I expect you to treat myself and every other omega as equals going forward. I don't know why you said what you did to Ashengrotto. But if it happens again, you won't be given another chance."
That was all the confirmation Leona needed. Vil had accepted his courtship. And since Vil was now close enough, Leona reached out to grab Vil by the waist. Pulling him into his lap before Vil could do anything.
"Leona!"
However, Vil's protests died when Leona began scenting him. Rubbing his cheek against Vil's scent gland. It felt like a crime to cover up Vil's perfect floral scent with his musky one, but Vil agreed to courtship and Leona was feeling possessive. His inner alpha swelled with pride as Vil leaned into his scenting.
He thought back to what he said to Azul a few days prior. He imagined some random alpha saying that to Vil and suddenly Jades reaction seemed mild. He would have torn their head off.
Leona is interrupted from his scenting when he feels Vil shift in his lap to face him more. This time it was Leona who was caught off guard as Vil gently pushed their lips together. But it didn't stay gentle for long, as Leona moved to lead. Wanting to not waste any more time, moved his tongue into Vil's mouth. He felt Vil start to fight to take the lead, yeah this is exactly what he want from his omega. Leona even grabs the back of Vil's head to try and regain some control.
This went on until the two of them had to separate to breath. They separated slowly after trying to kiss each other so desperately. Leona looks at the mess he made of Vil's hair and starts to pad it down.
"S' a bit messy."
"And whose fault is that?" Vil retorts as he begins straightening his hair.
However, he's unable to enjoy the moment with Vil for long as suddenly he picks up on a familiar scent.
Before he can react, his mother is opening up the door. One of them should have locked it, but they were both caught up in their own emotions at the moment.
Vil and Leona both feel horribly awkward, Vil is still in Leona's lap after all.
His mother on the other hand seems absolutely delighted. Moving to sit in the chair next to son. Her retainers linger in the doorway as well. Suddenly, this intimate moment felt like they were on display.
"Vil Schoenheit, it's so wonderful to meet you. I must be honest, I had my doubts when my son told me he had an omega," Vil raises an eye brow to glance at Leona, "But here you are. I would love for you to meet the rest of our family soon. We will plan a time for all of us to come and visit."
His mom was really laying on thick, maybe she really did think Leona would never find love and is now desperate to cling onto this.
"Yes, of course, Leona was so worried for me when I fell ill," Suddenly Leona's very glad that Vil is a professional actor. What he's not happy about, is Vil getting up from his lap to move into an open chair instead. "I'm so sorry for not informing you sooner. However, given both of our positions, we thought it prudent to keep the early stages of our relationship private."
"Hah! So well spoken, I can only hope some of that rubs off on my son."
"Well, he wouldn't be Leona if he wasn't a little gruff, now would he?"
"Well…I suppose not. So! When would be a good time for everyone to come and meet you?"
Leona cringed and Vil must have caught it because he was quick to respond.
"Oh that's not necessary, I would be more than happy to visit Sunset Savanna during our next break."
Leave it to Vil to know exactly why Leona had cringed.
"My and courteous too! Hold onto this one Leona!"
"Yeah, not a problem." He saw something change in his mother's eyes.
"Leona I'm serious, you need to take this seriously. If you mess this up, you'll be alone again, then it falls back on me to find you an omega."
Leona grit his teeth, his mother just said so many things that had pissed him off. But on top of that, Leona felt she was insulting Vil too. He was about to give his mother a piece of his mind. Respect for the queen be damned.
But he was stopped, seeing Vil suddenly fall in the corner of his eye. In an instant Leona was by his side. Had whatever cure Ashengrotto made not worked properly? He wasted no time hefting Vil up into his arms.
"Gotta go. See you."
He could only see a look of shock on his mother's face as he forced his way passed the retainers. He honestly couldn't care less right now. He was more focused on where he should take Vil. Did he need to go to the nurse? Was the crowd still outside? How would he avoid them?
This thoughts were interrupted by Vil's voice.
"You can put me down now, Leona."
Leona looks down and is met with Vil smiling up at him. So, he gently lowered Vil to the ground.
"You good? Need the nurse?"
"My, how sweet you are." Vil gives him a smile he's all too familiar with.
"Dang, even had me fooled."
"Well I would hope so, I've been acting since I was a child."
"You didn't have to do that for me."
"Hah, as if you could ever tell me what to do."
Vil slipped his hand into Leona's and began guiding them further back stage. Vil pushes on what appears to be a wall, which gives way to a secret passage.
"Taking me to your favorite spot?"
Vil looks over his shoulder and smiles, "I could, but honestly, I'd rather take you to the nest I made."
Leona doesn't need to hear anymore. Letting Vil guild them back to his room in Savanaclaw.
________________________________________________
The next morning, Leona wakes up alone in the nest. He shoots up to look for Vil only to find the whole room empty.
Before his thoughts stray too far, his door opens and Vil walks in.
Oh.
He was out on his morning jog.
He's about to tell Vil to come back to the nest when another person follows behind Vil.
"Ruggie? Get out of my room." Leona really wants to be alone with Vil right now.
"Hush, Leona, we were just chatting about anything Ruggie may have witnessed in this room these past few days?"
Leona looks to Ruggie, "And what did he witness?"
Ruggie is quick to answer, "Nothing at all!"
"Good," Vil give Ruggie a satisfied smile, "Now run along."
Ruggie doesn't need to be told twice and is already out the door, "I'll save you two a place at the cafeteria!"
Once Ruggie is gone Leona gives Vil a look, clearly asking him if he wants to join him in the nest again. Instead he gets his uniform thrown in his face.
"No time. I need to make sure look presentable today. After all, today is the first day you will be publicly courting me and I will not be humiliated."
"Yeah, yeah."
Leona grumbles the whole time he's getting ready, but they both know it's just for show. As Leona proudly takes Vil's hand as they leave together. More than happy to let the world know this is the omega he chose.